Wimbledon (tennis)

Wimbledon (tennis), annual tennis tournament held in the district of Wimbledon, in the London borough of Merton. Officially known as The Lawn Tennis Championships, the event is considered one of the four most important tournaments in the sport, along with the Australian Open, French Open, and United States Open. These four events are known as grand slams, and any player who captures all four in one year is said to have won “the grand slam”—a very rare feat. The tournament takes place every year in late June and early July and is the only grand slam event played on grass courts. Competitions include men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles, and mixed doubles (teams of one man and one woman).

Tennis was invented in England, and Wimbledon is the oldest of the four grand slams and perhaps the most prestigious to win. The tournament began in 1877 at the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, with women’s play beginning seven years later. The first non-British champion was American May Sutton in 1905, and foreign players increasingly dominated the tournament after that. In 1922 the tournament changed from a challenge-round format (where the champion must only defeat the top challenger to defend the title) to a standard draw (where all players must advance round by round). Wimbledon was cancelled from 1940 to 1945 because of World War II, and Centre Court was damaged by a German bomb in 1940.

As in the other grand slam events, professional players were barred from participation until the late 1960s. Wimbledon became open to all players, amateur and pro, in 1968. The tournament’s all-time men’s champions are Britain’s Willie Renshaw, who won the singles title seven times in the 1880s, and American Pete Sampras, who won seven times between 1993 and 2000. The all-time women’s champion is Czechoslovakian-born Martina Navratilova of the United States, who won nine singles titles at Wimbledon between 1978 and 1990.